A big exporter of olive oil to Britain has warned that the price could jump by a quarter in a further sign of the inflationary pressures faced by households.
Acesur, a Spanish company that provides Britain with about 200,000 tonnes of olive oil a year, said yesterday that a heatwave was hitting production.
Miguel Colmenero, the group’s export manager, told the BBC that the disruption could result in prices rising by between 20 per cent and 25 per cent.
Acesur supplies olive oil to Britain’s biggest supermarket chains, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda.
Its operations are focused on Andalusia, where temperatures have soared and levels of rainfall have slumped.
Colmenero said the dry conditions have had a “drastic” effect on production this year and could
